Explore Germany's UNESCO World Heritage on eight different routes

Experience masterpieces of human creativity and spirituality along with exciting towns and cities and the most beautiful natural landscapes. Our suggested routes combine Germany's 41 UNESCO World Heritage sites with many other tourist attractions. To make arrivals and departures easy, all routes start and finish near to an international airport.

'Natural wonders and proud cities' route

"The sea is not a landscape. It is an experience of eternity," as the writer and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann once said – and his words ring true on the UNESCO 'Natural wonders and proud towns & cities' route. Natural features, including coastal mudflats and unspoilt beech forests, are interspersed with ancient Hanseatic towns and cities such as Bremen, Lübeck, Wismar and Stralsund.

'Visionaries and pioneering thinkers' route

Innovative Germany: visionary town planning in Berlin, the revolutionary design of the Bauhaus School and the revolutionary thinking of Martin Luther, who in the 16th century not only reformed the Church, but changed society forever. Follow Germans who were ahead of their time in different centuries on the 'Visionaries and pioneering thinkers' UNESCO route.

'Earthly treasure and architecture' route

The UNESCO 'Earthly treasure and architecture' route covers the longest period of all. It vividly documents everything from industrial heritage to prehistoric excavations. Stunning old quarters and outstanding places of special religious significance complete this tour of striking contrasts that also offers walking enthusiasts some particularly lovely routes.

'Savoir vivre and sophistication' route

The UNESCO 'Savoir vivre and sophistication' route begins in Frankfurt and runs along the Rhine, through romantic countryside whose beauty was appreciated as far back as Roman times. The route features magnificent castles, Charlemagne's cathedral and the Ruhr region, before returning to the Rhine and finishing in Düsseldorf, a shopper's paradise and one of Germany's most creative cities.

'Palaces and parks' route

The UNESCO 'Palaces and parks' route starts and finishes in Leipzig. The heritage sites in between are reminders of a German past that lives on in sumptuous palaces and enchanting landscaped parks – not forgetting Dresden, the beautiful state capital of Saxony known as 'Florence on the Elbe'.

'Roman remains and Bavarian cheer' route

The UNESCO 'Roman remains and Bavarian cheer' route starts in Frankfurt and runs right through Germany's gregarious musical south. This route is all about idyllic scenery and stunning Bavarian cities such as Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Nuremberg, Regensburg and, of course, Munich, the state capital.

'Holy and hospitable' route

This UNESCO route through the west and south-west of Germany with the wine regions of the Moselle, Hessische Bergstrasse, Palatinate, Baden and Württemberg takes in a number of venerable sites of spirituality and hospitality. It journeys back to a time when industrial chimneys joined church towers as defining features of the landscape.

'Lake Constance and the Alps' route

Along the UNESCO 'Lake Constance and the Alps' route, you are transported back to the Stone Age, discover a remote church and cross over to a very special island. 'Optional extras' include internationally renowned attractions such as Neuschwanstein Castle and the Bavarian state capital Munich – not to mention captivating scenery in the foothills of the Alps.